Description:The term fadiyār occurs in Judeo-Arabic letters found in the Cairo Geniza.
The letters were exchanged between Jewish traders who were active in the
Indian Ocean maritime trade between the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
While it is understood in reference to a shipowner, its derivation remains
obscure. The present paper traces the derivation of the term in the official
title pati that appears in the Kollam copper plates, a ninth-century royal
inscription in Old Malayalam from South India. Despite the time, place
and language differences between the Kollam copper plates and the Geniza
letters, both sources originate in the context of maritime trade networks in
the Indian Ocean, and may therefore be of use in tracing the derivation of
the term fadiyār from the term pati. Moreover, study of the two sources
together may open new vistas to the study of the shared history, geography
and economy of Southwest and Southeast Asia during the centuries
preceding European expansion in the region.